Finding Kikyo
by Earthnfarie
Summary: Kikyo goes missing. Her family creates a clone to find their daughter. Now the race is on for the clone, Kagome, to find Kikyo before she looses her link to Kikyo, and with that her life.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Inuyasha nor profit from the writing of this in any way. **

Rating: T

Warnings: Language

Genera: Mystery, Romance

Note: Set in the future. This will be a fic set in _our_ future. I will try to explain my tech stuff simply enough to still let everyone understand the story. This will be about 4 chapters and an Epiloge. And I wanted to say thanks to all who have been reading my one shot drabble line, and thanks for all the reviews! I will be starting another soon with a different pairing. Also: Thanks so much to my second beta!

**

**Woman Still Missing**: After three months Kikyo Edo remains missing, The article declared.

The girl touched the clipping from the paper with her finger, and posted on a board, with a finger. She pulled her finger back to study the ink that had smeared on it. Outside the office she listened to the voices arguing over her.

"She shouldn't even exist."

"It was the choice of the family. They want her to help us. She is Kikyo in every way."

"She isn't Kikyo, and she can't tell us anything we don't already know."

"They want her involved. Just talk to her."

Then the two entered the room. The man was still clearly angry, though he kept his expression emotionless, and the woman was quiet. The woman that remained in the room with her was impassive; she was only here to see after her creation.

"So… Kikyo-" The man began.

"She goes by Kagome." The scientist put in, much to the man's annoyance.

"Kagome then, what can you tell me that I don't already know?" There was venom in his voice. He didn't want to do this.

Kagome didn't respond. She was still looking at the board. Onthe board was the search for Kikyo- her mother of sorts. She cocked her head to the side looking at the information the police had gathered when tracing Kikyo's last known actions. Abruptly she reached up, and plucked a picture free from the board. It was Kagura, her- Kikyo's best friend. She smiled at the photo of her. It was hers- Kikyo's.

"Did you know that I- she was having an affair with Kagura?" Kagome turned to the man behind her, and held out the photo. "They were lovers."

He took the photo, looked at it, then to the girl, and then to her guardian. "Is this some kind of joke?" He demanded.

"She tried to hide it during the mapping, but it was still read then imprinted on me." Kagome paused. "It started when Kagura's sister, Kanna, passed away. Kikyo found a way to comfort her friend when she was on the verge of suicide." Kagome watched the man- Detective Taisho- he didn't want to believe her, but the woman, Chief Kaede, did.

Unexpectedly Taisho sat down. He grabbed a note pad, and began making notes. When he paused he looked at Kagome with a glare. "What else?"

Kagome smiled warmly, wanting to reassure him, but Taisho only scowled. "Inuyasha doesn't know… at least he didn't." Kagome said looking confused. "He doesn't… didn't know that Kikyo was only marrying him to get her parents to leave her alone. Inuyasha really did believe that they were just friends." Kagome paused, and then turned back to the board. She scanned everything before her, and frowned. Then she shook her head as if trying to clear it of something.

"What is it?" Taisho demanded.

"I- I'm not sure." Kagome continued to study the board. A hand on her shoulder pulled her attention away from the board. It was her guardian, Sango. Kagome studied her guardian, and then told her, "Something's not right." She told her gesturing to the board. "Something is missing."

Sango reached up with a tissue, and wiped away tears that Kagome didn't know she was shedding. "It's ok. We will come back tomorrow."

Kagome didn't want to leave. She knew there was something wrong here, and it was pulling at her mind.

Chief Kaede rose. "Kagome, thank you, and we would welcome any other help you may provide."

Kagome let herself be pulled from the room.

"Get Miroku, and check it out." Kaede ordered. She moved to the door, and paused. "Be nice to Kagome, she may be more valuable than you think."

**

"Hello again Miss Wind, we were wondering if we might ask you some more questions?"

Kagura stepped aside to let the two detectives inside. "Anything I can do to help to find Kikyo. Have you found a new lead?" She asked as they settled down in the front room of the house she shared with Inuyasha.

"Something like that." Taisho replied. "Is Inuyasha home?"

"No he went to the store, I can call him though."

"No need," Detective Miroku quickly put in. "Miss Wind we have come across some information that pointed to you and Miss Edo having an intimate relationship behind Inuyasha's back. Is that correct?"

Kagura sat back, and took a deep breath. "Well… yes that is correct."

"Why did you withhold this information before?" Taisho questioned.

Kagura sat forward once more. She opened her mouth to speak, but then the maid walked in with tea. Kagura waited until the woman was gone. "I didn't think it was that relevant, and I didn't want anyone getting the wrong impression about Kikyo. She was a strong woman, but she wouldn't want to disgrace her family in such a way. I didn't want the information to get out, and do it either. I love Kikyo more than I should, and I don't want her name slandered in anyway, or the investigation compromised." She paused, "I want her found."

"There was a dog walker that was walking by around the last time you saw Kikyo. He said that he heard arguing between two women before Kikyo stormed outside, and drove away in her car. Can you explain that?" Taisho asked.

Kagura sighed. "Kikyo and I were arguing about her upcoming wedding to Inuyasha. I was her Maid of Honor, and she had several decisions she had to make. She said that she wanted to set back the meeting with the planner to give her time to think about things. I said that she needed to go, and just do it. She got mad, and stormed out when I told her it might look suspicious. She yelled that she didn't care, and it would look like cold feet. She said she was tired of living to satisfy everyone but herself. Then she left. I tried calling her, but she wouldn't answer or text me."

"So she wanted to think. Is there anywhere specific she would go to do that?" Miroku asked.

Kagura shook her head. "She would just go drive."

Both detectives stood. "Thank you Miss Wind." Miroku said as they headed out.

**

At the station Taisho froze when he saw the woman in his office again looking at his board. The woman gave him the creeps, and he didn't like being around her. She was an affront to his beliefs. He didn't want to even look at her let alone have her _help_ in the investigation.

Chief Kaede instantly pulled him into her office. "The family spent a lot of money having her grown and imprinted. If you can't respect what lengths they have gone through to provide this help then I will reassign you to another case, and get a detective that can." She told him without preamble.

"You can't sit there and tell me that you don't find it slightly disturbing everything that- that- _thing_ in my office represents." Taisho shot back.

"I do, but I can keep it away from my professional obligations. That _woman_ is a huge step, and a huge benefit to us. She may be the last chance we have to finding Kikyo." Kaede told him. "So I need to know if you can respect the family's effort to help, and utilize it, or if I need to find another detective to replace you." She stared at Taisho, daring him to question her choice to allow this again.

Taisho ran a hand through his long pristine white hair. "I can do it." He muttered.

"I want to you be nicer to her as well. It's not her fault or even _choice_ that she was made. She is struggling to adjust, and deal with this more so than any of us. She is still trying to coop with the fact that she isn't who she was made after. She is doing her best to help." Kaede told him as she returned to her seat behind her desk.

With a huff Taisho went to his office, making sure to calm himself before he entered, and lock away the disgust that the woman inspired in him. Kaede was right, she had no choice in her making; she was just dealing with it like everyone else.

"Kagome, it is good to see you back." He said as he entered.

Kagome looked at him with a cocked head as if trying to understand his sudden change in disposition toward her from the prior day. She glanced toward the chief's office, and seemed to nod in understanding. Then she turned back to the board.

Taisho looked at the chief, and saw her watching. He nodded to her, and then returned his attention to the room. Sango was acting impassive again as he watched her creation. Miroku was studying Kagome with interest.

"Kagome?" Miroku suddenly asked. This was the first time he had encountered the woman. She turned to him, and he sucked in his breath as a face he had been hunting for the last six month met his eyes. He scrambled to regain his thoughts and composure. "Why are you called Kagome?" He asked suddenly.

Kagome glanced toward Sango, her guardian. "Kagome… was my choice." She said slowly before looking back at Miroku, and he was struck by the understanding but also intense confusion that lay in the depths of her eyes. "After all I am _not_ Kikyo." She said more surely. "Despite my body," she lifted a hand, "And my imprinted mind, I am, at the same time, essentially not her, and am her." She looked away from him as if searching for the answer. "When it was explained to me what I am, and why I am, I chose to be called Kagome. It was- is confusing what I am and remember, and being called by her name only makes it harder for me." She paused, and looked up at Miroku again, "I am not Kikyo, and I think that I shouldn't be called by her name."

"So you chose her middle name?" Miroku asked.

Kagome nodded, "I see Kikyo as- as a mother. I am still her in ways, and I wanted to honor that."

Miroku nodded. "I understand." He looked to Sango.

"Her name was her first choice, and the first thing that made her not Kikyo. She chooses to respect Kikyo, and her existence." Sango supplied.

Taisho forced away a shudder while Miroku nodded. He hated this, but Kaede was still right, and he had a job to get done. "Kagome, have you anything new for us?" He forced himself to ask nicely.

Kagome shook her head. "Did you go see Kagura?"

Taisho sat down. "Yes, she confirmed what you told us." Then he looked at Sango. "How up to date are Kagome's memories?"

Sango knew this would come up. "Kikyo's last scan was only a month before she went missing."

Taisho nodded and looked back to Kagome. "Were Kikyo and Kagura still on good terms?" At Kagome's nod he asked, "And Inuyasha?"

Again Kagome nodded. "Why? What did Kagura tell you?"

Taisho was considering withholding the information that they had gotten from Kagura, but Miroku began telling her. As Kagome's attention turned to Miroku, Taisho wondered if he was enjoying it.

"Kagura and Kikyo got into an argument about the wedding plans just before Kikyo left. Kikyo had wanted to set back the wedding plans, and Kagura didn't want her to. Kikyo drove off afterwards saying that she needed to think." Miroku supplied as Kagome held his eyes.

"Kagura was trying to protect Kikyo from herself." Kagome said distantly as she turned back to the board.

She plucked another photo, one of Kikyo's car, from the board. "That's what's wrong." She said as she studied it. "You based your investigation off her car assuming it was the starting point for anything that happened to her, like abduction." She turned to the investigators that were watching her intently. She held up the photo. "Kikyo didn't think while she drove." Kagome dropped the photo into Miroku's hands. "There was too much to pay attention to for her to really think when driving." She said as she stared into Taisho's eyes. "She would park her car, and go walking to think."

**

"We've scoured everything within a two mile radius of where her car was found. About a mile away we found a hair that was tangled on a bush. It was Kikyo's, but nothing else could be found. The case has gone cold again, and Kagome hasn't offered anything new." Taisho reported to the chief.

The chief nodded. "There is a month of Kikyo's life that Kagome doesn't remember.

"Sango tells me that as time passes Kagome's connection to Kikyo will fade. Once she was exposed to stimuli that Kikyo never experienced she began to not be Kikyo. Soon she won't be able to tell us anything more than what her imprinting tells her from Kikyo's memories."

Kaede breathed a sigh. "With that in mind, we will soon lose our last connection to Kikyo. The family has asked that we give Kagome emersion."

Taisho was instantly on the edge of his seat. "Meaning?"

"Sango explained that if Kagome is exposed to Kikyo's life and living conditions that she will retain better. The family hopes that if she were to go live with Inuyasha and Kagura that she would be more help." Kaede explained.

Taisho was silent while Miroku asked, "And what of us?"

"The proposal is that both you and Sango will live next door in the vacant house." She paused letting it sink in. "Kagura and Inuyasha have agreed to let a profiler live with them in order to find Kikyo, they don't know that it will be Kagome, nor what she is."

"So basically what you're telling us is that the choice has already been made." Taisho said.

Kaede regarded him. "This will be your last chance out of this case. The family is desperate for answers of any kind."

Taisho nodded. "Who will explain to Inuyasha and Kagura what she is?"

Kaede clenched her teeth involuntarily, but quickly released them. It was noted by Taisho, and he sat back knowing the blow that she was about to deliver. "You two."

-AJ

-Betaed by ShadowInuATR


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own Inuyasha nor profit from the writing of this in any way. **

Rating: T

Warnings: Language

Genera: Mystery, Romance

Note: '_Thoughts'_

**

Kagome sat in the car alone. Sango was in her field of vision waiting while Miroku and Taisho were trying to explain Kagome to Inuyasha and Kagura. Kagome wasn't sure this was a good idea, her immersion. She had a feeling that it wouldn't go like they wanted, or perhaps it would be too much for the two unsuspecting people. Kagome loved Inuyasha and Kagura, and didn't want them to hurt because of her.

Kagome was also deeply afraid that they, either of them, would outright reject her. They had the right to after all; she wasn't Kikyo. But Kagome feared them looking at her and seeing Kikyo, and wanting her to be the Kikyo they had both loved. Kagome couldn't do that. She wasn't Kikyo, she just wasn't. Kagome couldn't pretend to be her either; she didn't want to.

Kagome watched Sango's back as Kagome slowly opened the door of the car to hear the conversation.

"You see, this isn't an ordinary profiler. Kikyo's family took further steps to insure that their daughter had the best chance of being found." Miroku was saying.

"What kind of steps?" Kagura was asking. Kagome imagined that Inuyasha was already putting the pieces together.

"Well, she is very unique, our… profiler." Miroku had to be looking at Taisho for help.

"What he's trying to say is that this woman they want to live with you is something you could have never expected." Taisho said.

"I don't understand." Kagura said.

"Just tell us the truth." Inuyasha said harshly. Kagome knew that he knew. "Just tell us that this woman isn't even a legal being." Yup, Inuyasha was so smart.

"What?" Kagura question.

Miroku sighed.

"Kikyo's family has had a clone made that was then imprinted," Said Inuyasha's hard voice. It was like daggers in Kagome's heart.

"Yes," Taisho said as if he was proud of Inuyasha's distain.

"Clone?" Kagura's voice was weak and shaky.

"You can back out at anytime." Taisho told them.

A scoff escaped Inuyasha. "Not likely. We agreed to this, and Kikyo's family will hold us to it. Just show us this fucking "profiler" already, and how wonderful of a job they did."

Sango turned to Kagome and saw the pity that passed her eyes as she saw Kagome out of the car. Kagome walked to her without closing the car door. Kagome didn't think she could stay here. She couldn't do this, but she was just a piece of property at this point. Kagome couldn't say no, she didn't have a choice like the others.

Kagome turned the corner to see Kagura gasp, and duck inside. Inuyasha just regarded her with a hard look. She wisely kept her mouth shut.

"If you like we can come back later-" Miroku was offering.

"No need." Inuyasha said with no emotion. "Please come in."

He stood aside as the detective moved inside, and Sango propelled Kagome forward. He had them settle in the front room, and Kagome found herself unable to meet Inuyasha's eyes.

Inuyasha chose to stand. He wasn't surprised in the least that Kikyo's family would resort to something like this. He wasn't surprised that they used the police to do the dirty work of maneuvering her in like this. He wasn't surprised at the detective's emotions or reactions to this. He wasn't surprised that Kagura couldn't handle it.

What surprised him were the emotions that struck him when he saw it. He was surprised that along with disgust he felt a pang of sorrow and loss. He didn't like it.

"So what are you calling _it_?" He nearly spat.

Sango was on her feet instantly. She had created Kagome, and understood more than any other what Kagome was, and represented, but Kagome was still a person with feelings! Sango was sick of others treating Kagome like a piece of property, like a dog. They looked at Kagome with disgust, and hated her just because she was what she was.

"_She_ is a person just as much as you and I!" Sango declared. "_She_ has feelings too! Did you ever stop to think what it must be like for her? Do you think she had a choice in _any_ of this?"

Kagome tugged on Sango's arm while still sitting, trying to stay small and hidden. She hated confrontation. "Please," Kagome whispered to Sango, "don't."

Sango huffed, and all of the males in the room looked at Kagome. Kagome wanted to disappear, or just run out the door. She could do neither. She was stuck here.

"Sorry." Inuyasha's voice was considerably softer. "What is she called?"

"She has chosen Kagome." Sango said as she finally sat back down. Then she turned her attention Kagome. Sango said nothing, but took Kagome's hand to reassure her.

Inuyasha gave one nod as he watched Sango comforting Kagome. He found it discomforting, but held it to himself.

Miroku was the next to speak. "Is there a room where Kagome can stay, so that she might lay down?"

Inuyasha nodded as Taisho rolled his eyes at his partner's concern for the clone. "Of course," Inuyasha said evenly. "Down the hall, the second door on the left." He stepped aside as Sango took Kagome to the room. Inuyasha noted that Kagome still kept her head down and refused to look at him. '_Good,'_ was all he thought.

Tense silence reigned as they waited for Sango's return. When she did they began discussing the plans that had been made. Sango wanted to stay with Kagome for a bit, but the detective's thought that she should let the woman to herself.

In rooms on opposite sides of the house two women sat by their doors listening, both attempting to hold in the tears.

**

Kagome watched as her small bag was brought to her room, then closed the door after Miroku had insured that she would be ok, and that she knew they were right next door. Kaogme pressed her head to the door, and then, after several long moments, pushed away from the door. She lay on the bed that Kikyo had picked out for the guest room. Kagome let her eyes drift over the things in the room, all of which the missing woman had picked out. Kagome remembered Kikyo's memories of picking them, and liking them, but she found herself indifferent.

That brought up a huge swell of dread. Kagome knew as well as Sango that as soon as she had awakened in the lab, Kagome had started down a path that wasn't Kikyo's. Every second that passed from that moment made her someone else. Even now Kagome found herself reacting to things differently than her original would have. Kagome wondered if she would be able to do what everyone expected of her. What if she failed and she had already gone too far down her own path? What if she was already too out of touch with Kikyo's life to offer any further help?

Kagome wanted her mother found, but she knew as soon as that happened. The parents, the ones that lusted so desperately for their daughter's return to make Kagome, would have her decommissioned. She would be broken down into the goo that had crafted and grown her. Kagome would be killed. She knew that she wasn't supposed to exist, or that she was lucky- in a way- to even be alive, but that didn't mean in any way that she wanted to die. Kagome still craved life, and living just as any other person would, just as Kikyo did.

Kagome rose, and went to the shelves that lined one wall. She gazed into the pictures that were there. Scenic shots that Kikyo had taken, they were beautiful. Kagome could remember Kikyo's exhilaration in hiking to the places, and seeing a beauty that felt wonderful in person. It wasn't her own; almost none of her feelings were her own. She was just an imprinted clone after all.

Kagome pulled a picture down, and stared at it. It was one of Kikyo's first dog. Kagome wondered at the feeling it inspired inside her. She wasn't Kikyo. While she knew that it was still difficult to separate herself from the emotions the other's memories spawned in her. Kagome wondered what it was like to make those memories yourself, and know it was you that was feeling the effects. She wondered what it was like to not feel likea shadow of someone else. Kagome wondered if it would feel sweeter, or more potent, than what she experienced now. Kagome understood that she may never get a chance to find out. No matter what time passed she was a clone, and would still be seen as such, an illegal being with no rights.

Kagome was pulled from her inner searching as the door opened. Inuyasha stood staring at her, and Kagome reflexively gulped. She set the photo back in its place and stepped away as Inuyasha looked at her. Kagome knew from his amber eyes that he was inas much turmoil as much as she, and resisted the pull to comfort him. Instead she waited for him to either speak or leave.

"May I come in?"

Kagome's eyes widened in astonishment, and she nodded before she realized what she was doing. Kagome resisted her own urge to move away as he stepped into her room and closed the door behind him. When the click of the door sounded, she fought the panic at being trapped. At least these emotions were her own.

Kagome held stock still as Inuyasha moved to the bed and sat down. "I wanted to apologize for my behavior earlier. Sango was right, and I wasn't thinking about how this must be for you. You are being forced into this as much as the rest of us, but I'm sure you aren't even viewed as anything but an abomination and property." Inuyasha paused, and then realized what he said. He turned to Kagome.

Kagome looked at him, and struggled to stay where she was. Yes his words hurt her, but she wanted to comfort Inuyasha. His hurt was above her own in her mind. "I understand." Kagome said slowly trying to choose her words well. "It is a… natural reaction when confronted with something like me." Some_thing_ was right. She didn't feel wholly like a some_one_.

Inuyasha rose to his feet, and again Kagome felt a fear in her. He stepped toward her with his hands up, and then froze. "I didn't mean to say that I think you are an abomination or-"

"But most do." Kagome cut him off to stop him from saying anything else that he would regret. "I am used to the disposition toward me. I realize what I represent."

Inuyasha gaped at her for a moment, and then closed his mouth realizing what she was trying to do for him. He respected Kagome stopping him from saying anything he would regret later, or even make himself look like an ass now. He looked at the photo she had been looking at. "She loved that dog… but you know that." He seemed to struggle. "You looked sad looking at it, but not like her."

Kagome looked away from his confusion, and to the picture. "I'm not her." She said very softly. '_And I wasn't thinking about what she thinks about_.'

When Kagome looked back up at Inuyasha, he was studying her intently. "You aren't." He said as if he was trying to convince himself.

Kagome looked away from his face again. It was hard to look at him. It was hard to know that there would never be acceptance in those eyes, at least not for her, not for what she was. Kagome would never see the love that he had for Kikyo, or _anything_ like it ever directed at her.

Inuyasha took a step toward her bringing Kagome's eyes up to his. She saw the pity and sorrow there for her, and wanted to cry. Kagome was sick of pity and sorrow. She knew what she was, and accepted it, but all everyone else would see was either a missing loved one, or an imprinted clone to hate. Kagome didn't want any of it. She wanted to be herself, and live a life. But that life would never be for her.

Inuyasha took a step back at seeing the anger and pain that followed. Kagome wore her feelings open for all to see, unlike Kikyo. The more he was around her, the more he saw that she wasn't Kikyo. "Dinner will be ready soon." He said, and then escaped like a coward out the door.

**

Kagura was absent from dinner, and Kagome and Inuyasha ate in silence. Mid way through dinner they heard Kagura leave her room, and leave the house. Kagome set aside her fork, no longer feeling hungry because of the hatred for herself that whelmed up inside her. She still cared about these people, even if it was only because of Kikyo's memories in her head, and she didn't want to see them hurting, norbe the one hurting them. What did it make her when she was the cause?

"You should eat." Inuyasha said as he watched the hurt and guilt rolling across Kagome's eyes.

Kagome didn't look up at him. She couldn't see that pity again. Instead she rose, and took her plate to the counter where she put the rest of her dinner in a container, and set her plate in the sink. "I'm not hungry anymore." Kagome muttered to Inuyasha as she put the container in the fridge. "Thank you for dinner it was good; please excuse me." Kagome didn't wait for a reply before she went to her room, and closed the door wishing she could close it on the world and her conflicted feelings.

**

Kagome held perfectly still as her door creaked open. She couldn't sleep in that house in that bed; it was unfathomable. kagome let her breath stay steady as she heard Kagura's gasp. Several long minutes passed before the door closed, and footsteps lead away.

Kagome sat up, and stared at the door. She couldn't do this. Kagome rose from bed, and, silently as possible, left her room. She held her breath as she opened the front door remembering the squeak it would always make, but there was no squeak. Kagome slipped outside, and moved to the grass. She sat, and looked up at the stars.

Kagome nearly jumped out of her skin when a coat was draped around her shoulders. She turned to look up into Inuyasha's face, and instantly regretted that she had left her room. The last thing Kagome wanted was to wake him.

"It's cold; it won't do to have you getting sick." He said as he settled next to her.

"Inuyasha, I'm sorry I didn't' mean to-"

With a smile he said, "You didn't wake me. I doubted any of us would be doing much sleeping tonight." He looked up at the stars as Kagome studied him. He knew that the woman next to him wasn't his fiancée, but he didn't mind being with her. Once he realized that she didn't want to replace Kikyo or even pretend to be her, he had come to a sort of acceptance. He would at least make this easier for her by not hating her.

Kagome turned away from Inuyasha to look at the stars again. "I'm sorry for all this." She told him finally.

Inuyasha turned to her, astonished. "What do you have to be sorry for?"

"If I hadn't come here- the last thing you and Kagura need is to see me walking around. Instinctively you will think I'm her, but I'm not, and never can be. I see the pain that it caused Kagura… and you. The last thing I want is to make you two hurt." Kagome said. "I'm sorry." She whispered.

"Kagome none of this is on you, nor should you feel guilty for any of it." Inuyasha told her.

Kagome met his eyes. "_I_ am what's hurting both of you." She said as if it were that simple. Inuyasha was going to reply, but Kagome stood silencing him. "We should go in." Then turned and left Inuyasha floundering in his own confused emotions.

-AJ

-Betaed by ShadowInuATR


	3. Chapter 3

**I do not own Inuyasha nor profit from the writing of this in any way. **

Rating: T

Warnings: Language

Genera: Mystery, Romance

Note: Set in the future

**

Several days had passed, and Kagura was finally not nearly so emotional around Kagome. Kagura could at least look at Kagome without running away in tears. Inuyasha was considerably quieter around her. Kagome was sure he was struggling with his emotions, and the sheer enormity of confusion Kagome could create in a person.

Kagome was sick of it. She wanted to just get this done so she could be washed from this existence. At least then people would be better off, and if she did locate her mother than everyone would be a good deal happier. If Kagome were gone it would be easier for everyone involved.

With that resolution set in mind Kagome waited until both Miroku and Sango left from next door. She knew that what she wanted to suggest would bother both of them but Kagome knew she was ready. Both Sango and Miroku had become attached to Kagome, where Taisho had maintained his constant disgust for her. He was more likely to think clearly, and see the option that Kagome offered for what it was- the only way.

Kagome had learned everything she could from the time of Kikyo's life that she didn't have. Kagome was ready to walk her path. She was ready to retrace Kikyo's last known events, and go further. Kagome was ready to walk into whatever Kikyo had found.

Kagome watched as Miroku left for coffee. Sango had left earlier for groceries. Kagome didn't have much time. As soon as Miroku turned the corner, and was out of sight, Kagome slipped outside without a backwards glance. She walked over to the house next door, and slipped inside. Kagome closed the door with relief, but knew that this was far from over.

Kagome found Taisho in the kitchen, and sat across from him. She ignored the way he looked up at her, and launched into her thoughts. "Look I know you don't like me; I know that I repulse you just by what I am, but I don't care. You wanted to stay on this case despite Kaede's many offers to let you off of it. So you are going to help me because we both want the same thing."

Taisho folded the paper he was reading, and set it on the table as he asked, "And what is that?"

"To get this over with." Kagome said, and almost smiled at his surprised look. "I have no intention of drawing this out longer than it needs to be just because I would like a life. I want a life of my own, not this one, and I know I will never get it. So it's better for everyone involved to let me do what I was made to do so I can be decommissioned." Kagome told him. She did smile at Taisho's response to her callous regard to her own death.

"That said I want you to help me to retrace Kikyo's last steps. I have learned everything I can about what happened, and now I want to live it."

Taisho regarded her solemnly. "That could be very dangerous for you."

Kagome smiled. "I am not going to live much past a year of life at best. What's a little danger when I am just going to be fractured?" She replied easily. "I want to have the argument with Kagura, and I want to drive to where Kikyo left her car. I want to walk away like she did with you and Miroku tailing me the whole way.

"This is what I was made for, so I might as well do it." Kagome finished. This was hard for her, but she felt her sacrifice was _essential_ at this point.

Taisho nodded. "Let me ask you this, how can you be so calm about your own demise?" He studied her closely.

Kagome paused, and then said, "It is inevitable. Why run? It will be easier for everyone if I just accept it."

Taisho saw the pain that flashed through her eyes. "Even yourself?"

Kagome gave only one nod to confirm. He may understand how hard this was for her, and he may not care, but none of that mattered because Kagome knew he would help her. It was his job, and his hatred of her would only help her to do it. It gave her just one more reason to want out.

Kagome rose to leave having conveyed what her plan was. Taisho caught her wrist as she passed by him. "I don't hate you," he told her. "I hate what you represent to the world."

Kagome didn't look at him. "I know Sesshomaru." He released her, and Kagome left him to get the job done.

**

"This is outrageous! It's too much danger!" Miroku shouted at his partner as he resisted the want to grab Kagome and run.

Sango was oddly silent. She knew this was what Kagome had been made for, and would have to do eventually, if Kikyo wasn't found. Sango knew as she had created the woman that the clone would likely be exposed to this, and Sango knew how Kagome would respond to this development. Sango still didn't like it. She didn't want to see Kagome harmed in any way.

"It is our orders." Taisho replied back coolly.

"If it helps find Kikyo, why not?" Kagura asked softly.

"Shouldn't it be up to Kagome?" Inuyasha put in.

Sango finally spoke. "Technically as property and not a legal person she has no say." She hated saying the words, but it was true.

"Doesn't mean we have to treat her that way!" Miroku yelled. He couldn't meet Kagome's calm eyes.

"It was my suggestion." Kagome said effectively ending the argument.

Taisho admired her briefly for her courage. "Tomorrow we will do it, that's all there is." He said as he rose and left.

Miroku stared at Kagome as if he'd been betrayed. He didn't notice as Sango and Kagura left. He didn't care. How could she do this to herself? "Why?" He asked softly.

"It is what I was made to do." Kagome told him. "I will be fractured one way or another." She told him. Then Kagome rose, and went to her room.

There was a knock on her door after the front door slammed shut. Inuyasha poked his head in the door. "Can I come in?" Kagome nodded, and he sat on the bed. "Is this what you really want?"

Kagome nodded again.

Inuyasha sighed. "What's it like?"

Kagome was momentarily surprised not expecting such a question. "What like?"

Inuyasha looked at her meeting her eyes. "Remembering her life."

Kagome sighed. "Confusing to say the least. I love you and Kagura, but it isn't me that does. It's my memories telling me I do like a whisper from another person in my head."

"So you don't care about us?"

Kagome shook her head. "I do… I think anyway, but it's hard to tell what her emotions are, and what are mine. I love and like you, but I don't know which is her, and which is me." She sighed. "That's not what your really curious about is it?"

Inuyasha looked away from her. "No." He took a moment to gather his thoughts. "When they… when they fracture you, what will happen?"

"Do you know how clones are made?" When Inuyasha shook his head Kagome explained. "They take the DNA of the person to be cloned and insert it into stem cells. Then they place those stem cells in a nutrient bath that has everything the cells need to grow a person including more blank stem cells. The cells feed off the food put into the gel along with using the oxygen in it. They also use the other cells to make what they need. In about two months you have a person that is a blank slate but the exact same as the parent.

"In my case they took me out, and then imprinted Kikyo's mapping onto my brain.

"When I am decommissioned they will fracture me. They will put me to sleep, and then put me in the nutrient bath again. They will send controlled precise electric charges through the bath. It will break the bonds between my cells, and I will simply come apart. Then they will strip the DNA from the stem cell platforms, and use them to make another person when needed."

"How can you be so _calm_ about this?" Inuyasha asked.

"Because this is what I exist for, and I don't have a choice." Kagome told him. She wished she could make him understand everything that lead to this, but it was impossible. He didn't know what it was like to live someone else's life.

"You could run away."

Kagome shook her head. "No, besides I'm not even legally a person." She took a chance and laid a hand on Inuyasha's arm. "Just look at me as another tool to find Kikyo. It will make it easier on you."

Inuyasha looked into her eyes as he took her hand in his own. "I can't," he whispered. He kissed her softly, and then left the room.

Kagome sat on the bed, and touched her lips. Fire had screamed through her body when he kissed her, and it was nothing like what Kikyo remembered. Kagome's heart was pounding. Kagome wanted to stay alive now more than ever, but she had something to do, and she would complete it.

**

Kagome stormed out of the house slamming the door behind her. She got in the car, and drove for a while before turning off. Kagome took a deep breath, and then tucked her purse under the seat where it was out of sight. She climbed out of the car, locking it, and began to walk. Kagome needed to clear her head. She walked until she got stopped at a light. Kagome presses the crosswalk button and waited. She spotted a loose hair clinging to her, and pulled it off. Kagome released it to drift, and watched as it landed in a bush. She stared at it. It wasn't right. Kagome turned, pulled another hair, and then released it. She smiled as it fell, and then crossed the street as it flashed for her too.

"She's heading west on Craig." Miroku reported to the other officers as Kagome abruptly changed directions.

Kagome walked for a bit, feeling better. Then she spotted an old pinball arcade. Kagome felt drawn to it, and before she realized it she began crossing the street. She halted suddenly as she saw a man passing the window, and quickly ducked into an open shed next to the place. Taisho and Miroku were coming toward her, as she rested a hand on a box next to the shed trying to calm her heart. It was pounded as Kagome knew that Kikyo had gone in that place.

"Are you okay?" Miroku asked when they reached her.

"Fine, but that place, the arcade, I wanted to go in there. Kikyo loves old places like that, and loves the pinball games."

Miroku had been crouched next to her stood. "I'll check it out."

Taisho stayed with Kagome.

As Kagome let her heart settle curiosity got the best of her. She glanced at Taisho, and then she lifted the lid of the box next to her. It seemed to bemeaningless junk. Kagome took out some of the contents. There was a cell phone with a post-it note on it. An address was scrawled across the note. She set it back in the box, and lifted another thing. It was a lipstick tube. Again there was a post-it with an address stuck to it. As Kagome lifted out a shoe she noticed a gleam. She set aside the shoe and reached for the shinny object. Her breath left her in a rush as she recognized the object as Kikyo's favorite bracelet. It had been given to her by Kagura, and had her name engraved on it.

Taisho heard Kagome's huff, and turned to her. "What is it?" He demanded, and then saw her stare. He looked at the bracelet she held. "Shit."

Kagome looked up at him. "Everything else in here has post-its with addresses, but this." She told him in a watery voice. Kagome held up the shoe, and Taisho's eye widened considerably. "What is it?" Kagome demanded in a hushed whisper.

"At that address there was a woman's body found, her matching shoe was never found." Taisho said.

Kagome gasped, and dropped the stuff, and scuttled away from the box. "No, no, no, no…"

"Miroku, keep that guy busy for another five, and not looking out the window. Then bail." Taisho muttered into the voice pick up on his throat. Then he put the lid back on the box, and grabbed it. "Come on Kagome we gotta get out of here."

Quickly they both left the shed, and moved to a nearby SUV.

As soon as they climbed in Sango asked, "What the hell happened to her?"

Taisho bagged the box, and said, "She may have just found evidence indicating that Kikyo was murdered."

-AJ

-Betaed By ShadowInuATR


	4. Chapter 4

**I do not own Inuyasha nor profit from the writing of this in any way. **

Rating: T

Warnings: Language, mention of yuri

Genera: Mystery, Romance

Note: Set in the future. This is the final chapter, but there will be an epilog after it.

**

Inuyasha slipped into Kagome's room without a knock. He sat by her on the bed, and allowed a hand to rest on her hip. He had no words to comfort her. Kagome had nearly walked into the same thing that it appeared Kikyo had. No one was talking to her, and the detectives wouldn't tell her anything. All she knew was what she saw, and what she found. All of which made her think that the woman the clone was designed after could be dead.

His presence was the only thing he could offer her.

**

Kagura paused at her door as she was about to slip back into her room after a long shower. She looked up at Kagome, whom was watching her with an unreadable expression. Kagura didn't think twice as she went to the woman, and took the clone's hand pulling her into Kagura's room.

Kagura was emotionally ragged from the lack of information since Kagome's discovery several days before, and Kagura needed comfort. Whether Kagome was her lover or not the clone still had the memories of the woman, and from her conversations with Inuyasha she still wanted to protect and comfort them as Kikyo had. There was one way in particular that Kikyo had comforted Kagura, and right now she needed it more than ever. Kagura knew that Kagome could provide that comfort.

**

Kagome left Kagura's room when the woman was blissfully asleep. She felt horrendous at the moment. Kagome didn't know why or how she could let Kagura convince her to do that, but the woman's pleas still echoed in her mind. Kagome couldn't deny the woman, Kikyo's lover, when Kagura was in such obvious need.

As Kagome stepped out the door her eyes landed on the last person she wanted to see at the moment. Horror washed through her as she stood, gap mouthed, staring. Kagome struggled for words to explain this away. In one moment of weakness she had just ruined Kikyo's life, and betrayed the woman's deepest secret.

Inuyasha, for his part, just watched Kagome with slight indifference. He wouldn't get upset until he knew whose compulsion she was acting on. "Clean up, and then come to my room." He said finally. He added, "We need to talk."

Kagome nodded mutely, and went to Kagura's bathroom. As she washed her hands she forced herself not to cry. How could she be so stupid? How, in one time, could she ruin what Kikyo had managed to hide for over a year? Kagome felt sick.

Kagome left the bathroom, moving in a daze, and went to Inuyasha's room. She paused as she turned into the hallway. He was standing there outside his room waiting for her. Kagome gulped, and fought the want to run next door demanding to be decommissioned. If she could just get through this she might be able to convince Inuyasha that she was her own self enough to have done this without influence from Kikyo. Kagome might be able to still save Kikyo's life.

Inuyasha straightened up from his lean against the door frame, and stood aside to let Kagome enter before him.

Kagome moved forward mechanically. She was both fearful and anxious. Kagome remembered the room she was about to walk into from Kikyo, but she hadn't seen it herself. She felt Inuyasha's eyes on her as she moved, but couldn't manage to meet his gaze. Kagome had too much to be ashamed of.

Moving past him, Kagome entered the room, and kept moving. She only stopped when she was at the far wall. Kagome heard the door click shut behind Inuyasha, and forced herself to continue breathing. She looked around the room. "You haven't changed anything." Kagome said trying to stave off the impending conversation at least for a moment longer to try and compose herself. She had never really gotten the art of lying down, but now she would have to make a good attempt at it.

"Kikyo was the decorator. You know that. And this was our room, to decorate together." Inuyasha replied. He paused, and waited until Kagome finally turned to look at him. He could see she was ashamed, and it gave him hope.

Before Inuyasha could ask her hard questions, Kagome began speaking. "Inuyasha, I'm sorry, but you have to know that this was all me. Kikyo would have never done _anything_ like that to you." She snapped her mouth shut before she let anything incriminating out.

Inuyasha sighed. "You don't have to stick up for her." He said solemnly. "I know that Kikyo was having an affair with Kagura. I've known for a long time."

Kagome felt her heart stutter, and her breath left her. She felt like she had just been kicked in the chest. "Inuyasha," Kagome whispered. "I'm so sorry…"

"It's nothing you did Kagome. I loved her, and I just wanted her to be happy even if it was in the arms of another. I was trying to give her what she wanted." Inuyasha explained.

Kagome quickly grasped on his past tense use. "Loved? You think she's really dead?"

Inuyasha shook his head. "I'm not sure, but this has taught me a lot. I would have been content with the life we were going into, but not now. There is someone else that I love more- someone I want to send my life with." Inuyasha walked toward Kagome.

Kagome backed up until her back hit the wall behind her. She was beginning to think- but no there was no way that was even _possible_. "Inuyasha, you don't mean- you _can't_."

Inuyasha stopped when he was only a breath away from Kagome. "But I can, and do." He breathed looking down on her confused face. He could see the emotions warring inside her.

"Inuyasha, I'm not even a person, just a shadow of one. You love Kikyo, and are just imposing that on me because I'm here _now_. When I'm gone you'll realize it's her you love. _I'm not her_!" Kagome tried to reason with him. She was destroying Kikyo's life in a way she never could have guessed.

Inuyasha wrapped an arm around Kagome's waist, and pulled her body flush to his. His other hand went to her face, and caressed the skin there and on her neck. He could feel shocks at skin contact setting off a riot of sensations in him. It had _never_ been like this with Kikyo. "I know." He breathed into her mouth as he leaned down. "I know with every fiber of my body that you aren't her." Without giving her time to react he kissed her.

Kagome was trying to quash the flames in her that were raging through her body at Inuyasha's every touch. She couldn't remember it being anything like this from Kikyo. Then Kagome heard his whisper, and felt a dread and elation flare in her. Then his lips were on her, and it was all she could do not to moan into his mouth.

Inuyasha broke the kiss, and leaned his forehead against Kagome's. He really shouldn't have kissed her, but he had wanted to so much. He struggled to regain control. "Kagome, I need to know how you feel. I need to know why you- you-" He grasped for words.

"With Kagura?" Kagome asked as she looked up into his face incredulously. "I felt… I felt cold and distant. From Kikyo's memories she exalted in those acts with her, but I- I didn't." She paused. "Inuyasha, when you touch me you send fire through my veins. It's nothing like what Kikyo remembers, and I don't understand…"

Before Kagome could speak again, Inuyasha captured her lips once more. He couldn't help it. Inuyasha had known, and accepted that Kikyo didn't love him like she loved Kagura. He was okay with it as long as he still got to be in her life. With Kagome that wasn't enough. He wanted her mind, body, and soul. Inuyasha wanted all of her for himself, and he didn't want to share. He wanted her to be his and only his. Inuyasha wanted the kind of life with her that he had once wanted with Kikyo. The woman he held now had turned his life and beliefs upside down, and he loved it and her for it.

Before he knew what he was doing, Inuyasha's body had Kagome's pinned to the wall, and his hands were roaming her. He wanted to feel her. He wanted to take everything she had to offer. Inuyasha knew that this was wrong, but he didn't care.

There was a tap on his door, and Inuyasha jerked away from Kagome. He struggled to stead himself, and said, "Yes?"

The door opened to Taisho. The detective glanced from Inuyasha to Kagome then back to Inuyasha. Inuyasha and Kagome both could see the disapproval in his eyes. "We need to talk." He said shortly before closing the door.

Inuyasha glanced at Kagome before following the man with Kagome behind him.

They got to the front room where everyone was waiting. Kagome noted the way that Miroku was glaring at Inuyasha, and the way Inuyasha was glaring back. Kagome felt her cheeks heat up and ducked her head as she took a seat.

"We know that the man in the pinball shop has had some kind of involvement with Kikyo. He is denying it. Right now all we can show is that he had involvement, and nothing more. He is out on bail, and refusing to even say that he had ever met Kikyo. His story is that the bracelet and everything else could have been put in his shed as the lock broke the day before Kagome went in there." Taisho said not caring for the tension in the room, or the flaring tempers. In his mind it was ridiculous of anyone to get attached to Kagome as she was a dead clone walking.

"So what does that mean?" Kagura asked not picking up on the emotions of anyone else.

"The family knows all this." Taisho said, and watched as Kagome slumped back. "They want Kagome to confront him with a wire, and see what he says."

"No way!" Inuyasha yelled springing to his feet. "There is no way she is going into that kind of danger! For all we know that guy killed Kikyo and seeing Kagome could just clam him up or set him off!"

Taisho glared at Inuyasha. "They knew the risks. Like it or not Kagome is a piece of property, and there is no choice here. If the family says send her in it's my job to do it."

Inuyasha was about to yell back when Kagome jumped to her feet. "Stop it!" She yelled. "Just stop it." She said more quietly. Tears were already flowing down her face. "Taisho is right Inuyasha." She said looking up to meet his eyes. "I'm not a person; I'm property, and I have to do as told." Then she left the room to slam her door, and sobs quickly consumed her.

**

Inuyasha slipped into Kagome's room to comfort her once everyone had left. He held her as she cried. When she had calmed down he whispered, "You don't have to do this."

"Yes I do." She whispered back.

"You can run away."

Kagome shook her head. "I'm a nonperson. I have nowhere to go, nowhere to run."

Inuyasha kissed her because he knew she was right. He kissed her, and laid her back on her bed. Soon enough he was pulling off her clothes, and doing his best not to think about losing her.

**

Kagome woke alone, and sore. She rose, and showered. Kagome shed no tears, and tucked away her feelings. She didn't want to think about her future anymore. Kagome just wanted to get everything over with and find Kikyo. She knew that would hurt Inuyasha, but her emotions were getting far too tangled. Kagome was never supposed to fall for Inuyasha, and she certainly wasn't supposed to have _any_ relations with him, let alone what they had done last night.

Kagome found Taisho and Miroku waiting for her in the front room. Taisho took her back to her room, and had her strip to her bra. He set to injecting the microphone to where it wouldn't be seen or felt, but still would pick up everything from just below her skin.

As he checked the read outs and made sure it was reading her body functions properly he said, "You seem less eager to do this than before."

"Things have gotten confusing, but I can still do my job." Kagome told him honestly.

"Things tend to get confusing when humans and their emotions are involved." He looked up at her. "You are no different." Kagome just nodded. "You could have run last night."

Kagome looked at him. "I could have, but I'm not a coward." She said with some vengeance in her voice.

Taisho nodded. "Kagome, you are a commendable woman." Then he led her back out to the others.

Kagome was touched and honored by Taisho's words, but that was soon forgotten as she returned to the front room. Kagome could see that Miroku and Inuyasha were still at odds, and now Inuyasha was glowering at Taisho too. Kagura wasn't present, and Sango looked like she was sick.

Miroku abruptly stood. "The car's waiting." He announced, and then left. Taisho followed. Kagome gave a last look to Inuyasha, and then she followed the detectives to her uncertain fate.

**

Kagome moved the hood over her head, easily concealing her face. She slipped out of the car, and headed toward the arcade that was the last known place Kikyo had been. Kagome took a deep breath to steady herself as she slipped in the door. She moved to the back of the place where the machines were silent. Kagome could still hear the noises of the machines up front, as people played them, over the pounding of her heart. She felt like panting, but forced her breath to stay normal.

"You're fine. We won't let anything happened to you." The calm voice of detective Taisho whispered in her ear.

Kagome resisted snorting. '_Like it matters,_' She thought to herself. '_Soon enough I will just be goo again_.' Kagome didn't voice her thoughts though; she didn't need to. Taisho knew as well as she did what awaited her if she didn't get killed here.

"Her heartbeat is still erratic." The medic in the SUV said. He was there to study her body and give medic care if she needed it.

"She'll be fine, just shut up so she can think." Taisho nearly growled at the man. When had he gotten so protective of her? When had he begun to think of her as a person, and not just a clone?

Kagome found a machine that held particular significance in her life. Its theme was that of her- Kikyo's favorite childhood show. She dropped some change in that the detectives had provided her with. Old money was hard to come by, but without it she would have to buy credits to run the machine. Kagome didn't want to do that.

The machine began to flash lights, and Kagome let the first ball fly. She watched it closely, still keeping her face hidden from view. Kagome felt a piece of hair slide free from her hood, and left it. As the ball shot past her paddles into the catch, Kagome became _very_ aware of the man that was watching over her shoulder.

"Not an often used machine." He said.

"I suspect not." Kagome replied with a surprisingly even voice. She shot another ball to keep herself calm, and not panic. Kagome just wanted to run, but was at the same time rooted in place. She was driven to succeed in a way that neither she nor Kikyo had ever experienced before.

The ball flew past her paddles yet again, and Kagome forced her breathing into longer deeper breaths. Her mind was buzzing, and her adrenaline was elevated.

"Your voice sounds rather familiar." The man said. He had stepped closer.

Without answering Kagome shot her last ball. She played it out, trying to decide what words she would use when she turned to the man hovering at her elbow. She let the paddles go slack, and turned to him. "I 'spose it would."

The man let out a hiss. "What are you doing back here?"

"I heard you were implicated in several murders including my own." Kagome told him.

The man waved off her words, and looked around. "Come to the back."

There was an instant response in her ear. "Don't do it! Stay out in the public room."

Kagome could see how flustered the man was. He didn't expect Kikyo to be dead. He was talking to her as if he _expected_ her to be alive. "Of course." She said.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Miroku was yelling.

There was a thud, and then a door slam. "Continue Kagome." Taisho said into her ear. "We got you."

Kagome followed the man into the back room. He closed the door, and only relaxed a little. "I should have known it was you. Your hair is rather distinct. Grown it out again I see, and where are your contacts?" Kagome shrugged. Again the man waved off her response, and his own words. "No matter really. You really shouldn't have come. The police could be watching."

Again Kagome shrugged. "You helped me, am I just to let you go to jail for crimes you didn't commit?"

"I won't go to jail. The 'evidence' they have is tainted. They have no way of proving that the box they found wasn't placed there by someone else which it was. It seems that someone has it out for me." He told her has he went about making tea. "Tell me, how has life been?"

"Not bad, rather tame and quiet compared to before." Kagome was beginning to understand. This man had helped Kikyo escape, and leave her life behind nothing more. Kikyo was alive, but didn't want to be found.

"Exactly as you wanted," he said.

Kagome nodded. She sipped her tea. It was just like Kikyo liked. Before she could say anything there was a knock on the door, and someone slipped inside. Kagome felt her heart accelerate and thud harder in chest as her breath caught in her throat. Kagome jumped to her feet afraid now more than ever.

"Her heart is going crazy; we need to get her out of there!"

"Kagome, what's going on? Who's there?" Taisho was asking.

Kagome didn't hear him though. The figure turned, and she was met with a woman that was almost identical to her shy of her shortened and dyed hair, and her eye color was darker, almost brown. "Kikyo" Kagome whispered.

"Go! Go! GO!" She heard Taisho shouting in her ear.

"What the hell?" The shop owner demanded as he looked from Kagome to Kikyo.

Kagome stumbled backward; her cup slipped from her fingers, and crashed on the ground.

"Fuck." Kikyo breathed as she stared at a perfect image of herself. Kikyo knew exactly what was going on, and what Kagome was. "Fuck." She muttered again, as police came flooding through every door.

The shop owner was cuffed, and held, as was Kikyo. Only Kagome was left untouched by any of the several police in the room. Her eyes were still wide and glued to Kikyo as Taisho went to her. "Kagome, are you ok?" He asked gently.

Kagome looked at him, and closed her mouth. Then she swallowed hard, and realized she had spilled the hot tea over her fingers, and they were in pain. "Yeah," Kagome managed, "I'm ok." She watched as the two were taken from the room, and put into cars. "Kikyo wanted to disappear. This was all her choice."

Taisho nodded as he led Kagome out. "We know."

-AJ

-Betaed by ShadowInuATR


	5. Epiloge

**I do not own Inuyasha nor profit from the writing of this in any way. **

Rating: T

Warnings: Language

Genera: Mystery, Romance

Note: Set in the future

**

Kagome didn't look back as she left with Sango back to the facility where she was made. Her heart was in shambles. Her mother had betrayed her in a way that Kagome never anticipated, and it ripped her apart. Kagome didn't even see Inuyasha or Kagura one last time. They were both at the station where Kikyo was. Kagome resisted the urge to leave a letter for Inuyasha as she packed her few things. It would be better if she just became nonexistent again, and that was exactly what she planned to do.

Kagome stripped slowly. Her fingers were still painful from the burns, especially since she hadn't had them treated; in her mind there was no point to. Kagome let her fingers drift over the small pin pick that was left of the microphone. Then, naked, she climbed into the even blue warm gel. She sat down, and waited. The doctor and technicians came in.

Sango had opted to not be present for this. She had become attached to Kagome, and couldn't bear to watch her fractured.

Kagome waited until the doctor had filled the syringe with a drug to put her to sleep, and then lay back, and took a deep breath. The warm fluid filled up her lungs quickly, and then Kagome nodded to the doctor. Through the blue gel Kagome watched as he pushed the needle into her skin, and then pressed the plunger. He released Kagome's arm, and she rested it beside her. Kagome closed her eyes, and let the serenity the drug inspired wash over her. Then the drug took full effect, and Kagome drifted into nothingness.

**

Kagome woke. Her mind was bleary, and her body was so heavy. She struggled to comprehend anything through the haze that permeated her mind. She was supposed to be fractured. She wasn't supposed to be aware. Had something gone wrong?

Kagome groaned, and became distantly aware that her hand was bandaged, and her other was restrained. Did they think she was going to kill herself? She groaned again, and felt the weight lift off her arm.

"Honey?" Kagome heard someone ask softly. '_What the Fuck?'_ Her mind was demanding, but her body still wasn't responding right. "I think she's coming around."

"She will likely be a little disoriented."

'_No shit_,' she thought. She wanted to go back to eternal slumber, where nothing could hurt her anymore.

"Kagome, it's Inuyasha, can you hear me?"

Inuyasha? Why? What? There was too much she didn't understand. What had happened after she had gone under? Why was she still whole? Why was Inuyasha here?

"Inuyasha?" Kagome muttered weakly. It was the only thing she could get out.

"Yes, I'm here." He responded instantly.

"We should have left her in the bath." The doctor said from somewhere further away than before.

"Kikyo didn't trust any of you to not fracture her." Tomas shot back.

"Genetically Kikyo is the owner even if it was her parents that paid for the clone. Kikyo gets to decide what happens to her clone." The doctor informed him.

"But it would be convenient that _Kagome_ was 'accidently' fractured, and a nice settlement was reached?" Inuyasha shot back with venom lacing his words.

Kagome opened her eyes, and saw how disheveled Inuyasha was. He must have slept here with her. Kagome looked to where his gaze was directed, and saw the blustered doctor that had injected her.

"We don't operate that way. There are laws and we follow them. No pay off would be enough for us not to." He retorted hotly.

Inuyasha was about to respond, but Kagome interjected stopping him. "Inuyasha, what's going on? Why am I still here?"

Inuyasha' gaze focused on her, and softened considerably. "Kikyo is with her parents. She's pissed to say the least, but for now you're safe."

"Safe?"

Inuyasha nodded with a smile, "Yes, you're safe."

"But why?" Kagome didn't understand. Why wasn't she fractured? Why wasn't Kikyo having it done?

Inuyasha's expression turned into pain, and then went cold. "You want to be fractured?"

Kagome closed her eyes. "I did what I was made for. What else is there for me?"

"Just because your original purpose was fulfilled doesn't mean you can't be left alive. You could have a life." Inuyasha told her. Why was she being so resistant to living?

"It was a supplemented desire that was imprinted along with Kikyo's mapping to insure she didn't try to run. The clone would be compelled to perform the actions needed to find Kikyo, and then she would welcome her decommission. Don't be too hard on her." The doctor said softly.

It made Kagome wonder if she would have wanted this to begin with if not of that. If she was who she thought she was. Had she gone to such extremes just because an imprinted command told her to?

Inuyasha sighed heavily. "Can it be removed?"

"Yes, but she will have to go back into the tank. She can be awake for it though."

Inuyasha looked at Kagome, and kissed her hand. He didn't want to lose her.

**

Inuyasha was woken by a rough shaking. He looked up, and saw Kagome awake in bed. She wasn't looking at him, and looked rather pissed. What had happened while he was sleeping? He turned to the one behind him, and was confronted with equally pissed looking Kikyo. Inuyasha glanced in the direction of the doctor which he saw looked rather surprised. He turned back to Kikyo.

"So what's the verdict?" He asked followed by a yawn.

"She's mine, and my parents have agreed to my plans, though I didn't give them much choice." Kikyo told him. "As we speak the tank is being readied to remove the command, and papers are being made up for both of us."

Inuyasha scrubbed his face with his palms, and then asked, "Then why are you both so angry?"

"It seems myself and I don't see eye to eye with my reason nor what I did." Kikyo said.

"I'm not you, and never was past a second of my waking life. Get that through your head, you self-centered bitch." Kagome retorted curtly.

Inuyasha looked at Kagome. He had never heard _anything_ like that out of her before. Hell, he'd never seen her pissed like this. He knew how Kagome felt about himself and even Kagura. He doubted that she would have made the same choice as Kikyo. Despite their shared past the two were nothing alike. They were still similar enough to get just as passionate about two sides of the same coin. Inuyasha sighed.

"So when are you going to explain to me what you have decided for me without my consent?" Kagome asked with venom lacing her voice.

"You're property remember? You don't need to be consented." Kikyo replied hotly.

"Enough both of you!" Inuyasha nearly yelled. He sighed again. Inuyasha couldn't handle _both_ these women in his life that was for sure. "Kikyo had negotiated an agreement with her parents-"

"Extorted is more accurate." Kikyo cut in.

"Had it coming with how they tend to play god." Kagome said. Kikyo nodded.

"At least you two can agree on something." Inuyasha said earning a glare from both women. "As I was saying, the agreement is that Kikyo will continue in her new identity with Kagura. Kagome, you will take Kikyo's name, and live as her in the public eye." Inuyasha explained.

"What?!" Kagome demanded. She sat up straight in her bed. "I'm not her, nor will I ever be. You know how much I have struggled with all this, and now you want me to _live_ as her?!"

"At least you still get to live, and I can have the life I want too." Kikyo told her.

Kagome glared at Kikyo. "You think you're so much better than your parents because you're letting me live, but you're just the same. You are _using_ someone you have control over to achieve your own end regardless of their feelings or wants."

"I guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree meaning you're just the same." Kikyo sneered back.

Kagome laughed darkly. "You and I may be the same body, and the same past, but I will _never_ be like you."

"Maybe not, but you'll marry my fiancé since you are pregnant with his child." Kikyo told Kagome with satisfaction.

Kagome felt like she had been struck. Pregnant? She was pregnant?

"Just one more reason that you can't be fractured." Kikyo told her before turning and walking toward the door. She paused half way through the door. "Have a nice life Kikyo, Kagura and I will keep in touch."

Kagome gaped at Inuyasha whom was trying his best to look innocent, but he couldn't meet her eyes. "I didn't mean for it to be told to you like that."

Kagome slumped back into the bed. "I'm sure."

**

Kagome stripped nude, and climbed into the blue gel once more. She laid back, and gulped the fluid into her lungs. Kagome closed her eyes as the fluid around her charged with electricity, sending it dancing on her skin. She let the dance sooth her, and thought of a life of her own. It was what she had wanted, and now she had a shot at it.

"Sir, the supplemental desire and commands were never triggered." The tech told the doctor.

The doctor turned to the man surprised. "Erase it anyway."

The tech nodded, and did as told.

-AJ

-Betaed By ShadowInuATR


End file.
